Answering Service Care Blog

How to Choose an Answering Service Company

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:31:00 GMT

Each company has their own needs and wants when it comes to choosing an Answering Service. We have identified, over our 37 years in business, the major areas businesses ask about when in the selection phase of choosing an Answering Service and we would like to share our knowledge with you.

First and foremost, business owners today have operations that don’t stop when the clock hits closing time. Having a professional live phone answering service that is able to answer the phone line 24/7 days a week is crucial. Many companies are also concerned with the friendliness, efficiency, and comprehensibility of the voice on the other end. All of our answering service agents are based in the U.S. and are fluent in English. However, we do provide bi-lingual Spanish and English services as well.

Make sure to ask about the experience level of the Telephone Answering Service that you choose. Decades of experience uncovers situations and procedures that a new company likely hasn’t encountered yet. For example in the old days answering service operators had a thankless job, but today through several process improvements we call befriending the caller our operators receive constant compliments for professionalism and friendliness. Also, a company that has been tested over time is more apt to continue standing in the future. That being said, having weathered the tests of time does not mean that the company you choose should be set in its ways. Flexibility is important to growth and client satisfaction. If a company tries to sell you a boilerplate program, they do not truly want to work with you to build a relationship. Answering Service Care by GlobalResponse focuses on being flexible and using our knowledge gained from experience to your advantage.

Ask what is included in the contract and make sure that you understand what is being included before you sign. At Answering Service Care we are so certain that we can provide a great service that unlike many of our competitors we don't require a contract.

Everyone loves freebies, but understanding what is involved is important. A good Answering Service may offer something to show that they are appreciative of your business. We currently offer Free Toll- Free 1.800 numbers so that our clients can benefit from the professional association that their callers perceive this number to have. Additionally, callers know that they can reach your company for free by calling the 1.800.XXX.XXXX.

How knowledgeable is your Answering Service Company about Web-Integrated Solutions? This lends itself to the flexibility and forward thinking abilities of the company. Are they looking for ways to adapt and better serve their clients? We offer customizable solutions that give our customers a choice between live human answering and Interactive Voice Response (IVR). IVR is a feature that allows callers to interact with a phone system through voice recognition or through their telephone keypad.

The next few questions focus on the human capital of the company. Who will be your point of contact? Will you be moved from department to department? What is the Answering Service’s staff retention rate? We offer a Client Care Team, with individuals who focus on your specialized needs and get to know you. Our employees are happy, we sell smiling faces, and we make sure to take care of our team just as well as we take care of our clients.

If you would like to contact us with any questions, you can reach us by phone (800) 430-6511 or you can talk to a live agent online here: chat now.

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Using Answering Services to ease Disaster Recovery

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:04:00 GMT

When disaster strikes, you need to be able to depend on your phone for communication. Whether you serve patients, clients or customers, they will be relieved to know that you were prepared enough to employ a professional phone system in case of emergency. Our base routing system ensures that your caller’s message is relayed as quickly as possible to the right person in your organization. We offer redundant backup systems to make sure that calls are taken care of in the event of a disaster. We pride ourselves on being dependable and understand that how you handle your callers in a time of need can impact the success of your business.

By setting up call forwarding from your phone to your answering service you can relax knowing that your phone calls will be handled by trained professionals. Answering Care Service by Global Response makes sure that your calls are not just answered professionally, but in a calm and reassuring manner in times of need.

The Call Routing Process in Disaster Recovery

If your business receives a large number of faxes, you may be interested to know that Answering Service Care by Global Response has a system in place to receive faxes, convert them into digital files and then email the digital files of the faxes to one or more people in your company. We would just need the email addresses of the individuals. Additionally, if your company computers go down in the case of a disaster, we can make your emails available through the internet via a private and secure client portal. Employees can access their messages via the client portal through computers or any internet enabled mobile device.

Communicating with employees is often crucial during times of crisis. Update your employees with information in real-time through the use of Answering Service Care by GlobalResponse. We can answer their questions such as whether they should report to work and if so when and where. We can also be of assistance alerting your workforce to when the state of disaster has passed and it is safe to resume business as usual.

Answering Service Care has experience handling calls in all kinds of disasters and focuses on keeping your business running. Be prepared for any disaster with Answering Service Care’s Disaster Recovery plan.

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Tags: Disaster Recovery,Answering Service

Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:38:00 GMT

Oooonnnne ringy-dingy. Twwwwoooo ringy-dingy. . . .

Times have changed since the days of Ernestine, your friendly – if quirky – neighborhood telephone operator. These days, you just can’t run a top-quality answering service at such a slow and ponderous pace.

As always, Answering Service Care has kept up with the times. We used to assign one of our friendly and fully trained live telephone agents to between 80 and 100 clients. This allowed our staff to be very focused and personal with their assigned clients.

Tags: Answering Service,Small Businesses

Outsourcing

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:05:00 GMT

Is your company wasting precious resources answering the telephone? As a business person, you want to focus on key success factors that most directly affect profitability. Anything that distracts from those core functions can drain off your profits.

Tags: Outsourcing,Answering Service,Small Businesses

Call forwarding your cell phone?

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:13:00 GMT

The caller couldn’t reach me after multiple attempts. He explained that the phone rang eight times and the answering service doesn’t answer! After eight rings and nobody answers, it is a lot of rings.

Tags: Answering Service

How Important is Your Name?

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:56:00 GMT

Does it matter if your receptionist at the telephone answering service says your name correctly? It sure matters to me. My name is “Shooster” not Shooter, Shot-ster, or Shoo-sir. From a business perspective, branding of your company name, I believe you would agree, is one of your most important assets. It’s even fair to say that when you say a person’s name incorrectly you dishonor that person.

Tags: Answering Service,Small Businesses

Answering Service Culture Shock

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:37:00 GMT

Following my father's footsteps, it was time to pursue growth through acquisition. I knew from my father's experience that when you buy a business it is not a good idea to make changes, at least not for a while. Give yourself time to get to know everyone. There will be plenty of time later to make changes, that is, if you need to make any changes at all. In the mean time, try to learn from the seller; get to know your clients, employees, and vendors.

Tags: Answering Service

Why Should I Use An Answering Service?

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:34:00 GMT

There are hundreds of good reasons for having an answering service. And, the one honest way of answering the question posed in the headline (Why Should I Use An Answering Service?) is to call your own company. Try it now. I’ll wait. How many rings before someone answered (if someone did in fact answer the phone). Is your service so in need, is your company exclusive in its services and/or products that people can’t go elsewhere to buy what you sell?

Tags: Answering Service